Residents travel to safer place after they were rescued from a heavy flooded area of Toree Band near Sukkur, in Pakistan's Sindh province, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. Authorities evacuated thousands of Pakistanis... (Shakil Adil)

(Newser)
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Rescuers searched today for an estimated 1,300 people left missing after rubble-strewn floodwaters tore through northwestern China, smashing buildings, overturning cars, and killing at least 127 people. In neighboring Pakistan, 4 million people faced food shortages amid their country's worst-ever flooding, while rescuers in Indian-controlled Kashmir raced to find 500 people still missing in flash floods that have killed 132.

Hoping to prevent further disasters, demolitions experts set off charges to clear debris blocking the Bailong River upstream from the ravaged town of Zhouqu, which remained largely submerged following yesterday's disaster. The blockage had formed a 2-mile-long artificial lake on the river that overflowed in the pre-dawn hours, sending deadly torrents crashing down onto the town. China's worst flooding in a decade has killed more than 1,100 people this year. The floods have caused tens of billions of dollars in damage across 28 provinces and regions.

Pakistani flood victim Samina Samoo, right, who lost her house and belongings, cries for her family members stuck in a deep flooded area of Toree Band near Sukkur, in Pakistan's Sindh province, Sunday,... (Shakil Adil)

A Pakistani uses a cable wire to cross a deep flooded area of Kot Addu, in central Pakistan on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. Authorities evacuated thousands of Pakistanis living along expanding rivers as forecasts... (Khalid Tanveer)

In this photo released by China's Xinhua news agency, buildings, vehicles and roads are hit by mudslides in Zhouqu county, in northwest China's Gansu Province on Sunday Aug. 8, 2010. (Gong Zhiyong)

Residents travel to safer place after they were rescued from a heavy flooded area of Toree Band near Sukkur, in Pakistan's Sindh province, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. Authorities evacuated thousands of Pakistanis... (Shakil Adil)